A new easy-to-understand star ratings system has been introduced to help NSW parents learn more about their childcare provider.

The family-friendly ratings guide for children’s education and care services was announced this week. It is designed to give parents access to more information about how their service rates under the National Quality Framework (NQF).

The rating system will apply to council-run Family Day Care as well as private child care facilities.

“Services will be required to display their quality rating in a prominent location, using the easy-to-follow star graphic,” said NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell.

“To help with increasing the focus on quality, services will also be asked to provide more detailed rating information to parents and families at enrolment from July 1, 2020.”

Early Childhood Australia CEO Samantha Page said the ratings guide will enable families to start a conversation with services.

“Parents should play an active role in communicating with services about all aspects of quality, and the star graphic invites them to learn more about quality improvement,” said Page.

“It also gives services the opportunity to pro-actively engage and focus on quality as an ongoing priority.”

The Quality Ratings Guide will display a service’s overall NQF rating, as well as identifying how the service is performing against each of seven values.